Russian in Plain English enables complete beginners to acquire the skill of reading words written in Cyrillic independently, with no English transcription or imitated pronunciation, within a short period of time. This book introduces the Cyrillic alphabet gradually, feeding in the letters and their various pronunciation aspects one by one over its ten units, thus building a complete picture of the Russian sound and writing systems. It also highlights the interrelationship of the two systems and helps learners to see the logic behind the use of the Cyrillic alphabet. In addition, the book teaches learners to produce Russian word stress on a marked syllable, contributing to stress acquisition. Furthermore, the book explains the basic grammatical features of Russian words and the rules of how to put them into sentences, enabling learners to start saying things in Russian from Unit 1. It employs some findings of research in language processing, helping learners to start building their speaking and reading skills. This book is an essential guide for all beginners, including students and independent learners.

Russian in Plain English enables complete beginners to acquire the skill of reading words written in Cyrillic independently, with no English transcription or imitated pronunciation, within a short period of time. This book introduces the Cyrillic alphabet gradually, feeding in the letters and their various pronunciation aspects one by one over its ten units, thus building a complete picture of the Russian sound and writing systems. It also highlights the interrelationship of the two systems and helps learners to see the logic behind the use of the Cyrillic alphabet. In addition, the book teaches learners to produce Russian word stress on a marked syllable, contributing to stress acquisition. Furthermore, the book explains the basic grammatical features of Russian words and the rules of how to put them into sentences, enabling learners to start saying things in Russian from Unit 1. It employs some findings of research in language processing, helping learners to start building their speaking and reading skills. This book is an essential guide for all beginners, including students and independent learners.

This book provides an accessible introduction to the linguistic structure of Russian, including its history, dialects and sociolinguistics, as well as the central issues of phonology, morphology, syntax and word formation/lexicology. It particularly emphasises the special linguistic features of Russian which are not shared with English and other non-Slavic languages. For intermediate/advanced students of Russian, this will help to reinforce their understanding of how all levels of Russian function. Students and scholars of linguistics will find it a useful starting point for comparative work involving the structure of Russian and the Slavic languages, or issues such as standardisation, multilingualism, and the fate of former colonial languages. Each chapter begins with an introduction to the basic theoretical concepts of the area covered, presenting the linguistic facts and relationships in an easily accessible form. It will also serve as a learning aid to Cyrillic, with all examples transliterated.

This text, designed for a wide range of learners (advanced novice to intermediate), provides interesting, authentic cultural material by drawing on classics of Russian animation. Contains numerous structured exercises.

This is the first book in a series of Russian language learning books.

This book is intended to capture the interest of anyone who has been attracted to Russian culture through the greats of Russian literature, either through the texts themselves, or encountering them in the cinema, or opera. Rather than a conventional chronology of Russian literature, the book will explore the place and importance of literature of all sorts in Russian culture. How and when did a Russian national literature come into being? What shaped its creation? How have the Russians regarded their literary language? The book will uses the figure of Pushkin, 'the Russian Shakespeare' as a recurring example as his work influenced every Russian writer who came after hime, whether poets or novelists. It will look at such questions as why Russian writers are venerated, how they've been interpreted inside Russia and beyond, and the influences of such things as the folk tale tradition, orthodox religion, and the West ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.